A depiction of the Jewish prophet Jeremiah in "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem" by
Rembrandt van Rijn.
A 'prophet' or 'prophetess' is a person
obligated with the
responsibility of being a '
follower' from a
holy person or thing with the '
purpose' of
making social change.
The bulk of recorded prophetic experience from the Jewish
Tanakh suggests that prophets do not seek the gift of
prophecy, and often lack '
motivation' to fulfill its obligation, and seek no reward for the delivery of the message, indeed facing persecution, incarceration and execution in the process.
This aspect of passive receiving of the gift of prophecy by an otherwise often unremarkable person,
differentiates prophets from other
phenomena and
activities sometimes
confused with prophecy. In these other activities the individual actively participates on professional basis, and in a consultative, usually rewarded performance of
divination (including use of
oracles),
premonition,
interpretation of dreams or
fortune telling as defined elsewhere in
Wikipedia, sometimes through the medium of an animal, in providing sought information which by an individual or a group, often through use of specific object/s, site/s or point in time. Such practices are found in many
cultures through the Ages from pre-Biblical to the 21st century including the
Sybilline and
Delphic Oracles in
Ancient Greece and
Rome, the
Völuspá in
Old Norse,
Zoroaster in
Persia, and many others.
In
Abrahamic religion, a prophet is seen as a person who is encountered by, and speaks as a formal representative of the One
God without regard to his or her position in society, age, willingness to accept the message, place or time of the initial contact, or intended place or group of its deliver. The intention of the message is always to effect a social change to conform to God's desired standards initially specified in the Torah dictated to Moses (Heb. Moshe Rabbeinu).
The '
means' of effecting change through prophecy is to include in the message suggestions of positive or negative effects that would be enacted by the Divine towards the society in question, such as rewards or punishments, should the message be accepted or ignored.
By default the prophet exists within a system of faith in the Divine that bestows the gift of prophecy.
In the late 20th Century the appilation of a 'prophet' has been used to refer to individuals particularly successful at analysis in the field of economics as
prophet of greed.
Alternatively social commentators that suggested escalating crisis in environment and society due to a lack or failure of due care are refereed to as prophet of doom.
Sociological taxonomy
The
sociologist Max Weber distinguished two types of prophets, the ''emissary'' type and the ''exemplary''. The emissary type believe that they have received an important message that must be communicated to others. The exemplary type base their religious authority on experience that serves as an example to others.
Judaism
The following list of prophets is based on the Talmud and Rashi.
Male prophets
Name Source
Abraham Genesis 11,26 - 25,10
Isaac Genesis 21,1 - 35,29
Jacob Genesis 25,21 - 49,33
Moses Exodus 2,1 - Deuteronomy 34,5
Aaron Exodus 4,14 - Numbers 33,39
Joshua Exodus 17,9 - 14, 24,13, 32,17 - 18, 33,11; Numbers 11,28 - 29, 13,4 - 14,38; 27,18 - 27,23, Deuteronomy 1,38, 3,28, 31,3, 31,7-Joshua 24,29
Pinchas Exodus 6,25; Numbers 25,7-25,11; Numbers 31,6; Joshua 22,13 - Joshua 24,33; Judges 20,28
Elkanah I Samuel 1,1 - 2,20
Eli I Samuel 1,9 - 4,18
Samuel I Samuel 1,1 - I Samuel 25,1
Gad I Samuel 22,5; II Samuel 24,11-19; I Chronicles 21,9-21,19, 29,29
Nathan II Samuel 7,2 - 17; 12,1 - 25.
David I Samuel 16,1 - I Kings 2,11
Solomon II Samuel 12,24; 1 Kings 1,10 - 11,43
Iddo II Chronicles 9,29, 12,15, 13,22
Michaiah son of Imlah I Kings 22,8-28; II Chronicles 18,7-27
Obadiah I Kings 18; Obadiah
Ahiyah the Shilonite I Kings 11,29-30; 12,15; 14,2-18; 15,29
Jehu son of Hanani I Kings 16,1 - 7; II Chronicles 19,2; 20,34
Azariah son of Oded II Chronicles 15
Jahaziel the Levite II Chronicles 20,14
Eliezer son of Dodavahu II Chronicles 20,37
Hosea Hosea
Amos Amos
Micah the Morashtite Micah
Amoz (the father of Isaiah)
Elijah I Kings 17,1 - 21,29; II Kings 1,10-2,15, 9,36-37, 10,10, 10,17
Elisha I Kings 19,16-19; II Kings 2,1-13,21
Jonah ben Amittai Jonah
Isaiah Isaiah
Joel Joel
Nahum Nahum
Habakkuk Habakkuk
Zephaniah Zephaniah
Uriah Jeremiah 26,20-23
Jeremiah Jeremiah
Ezekiel Ezekiel
Shemaiah I Kings 12,22-24; II Chronicles 11,2-4, 12,5-15
Barukh Jeremiah 32, 36, 43, 45
Neriah (father of Barukh)
Seraiah Jeremiah 51,61-64
Mehseiah (father of Neriah)
Haggai Haggai
Zechariah Zechariah
Malachi who's fill name was Ezra HaSofer Malachi
Mordecai Bilshan
Oded (father of Azariah)
Hanani (father of Jehu)
Female propheteses
Name Source
Sarah Genesis 11,29 - 23,20
Miriam Exodus 15,20-21; Num. 12,1-12,15, 20,1
Deborah Judges 4,1 - 5,31
Hannah I Samuel 1,1 - 2,21
Abigail I Samuel 25,1 - 25,42
Huldah II Kings 22,14-20
Esther Esther
Classical Jewish texts teach that the most direct forms of prophecy ended shortly after the destruction of the
First Temple in
586 BCE and the codification of the
Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) by the
Men of the Great Assembly (''Anshei Knessset HaGedolah''). However, various rabbinic Jewish works, including the
midrash, state that other less direct forms of communication between man and God still exist, and have never ended.
Many
Jewish works, including the
Talmud and
Maimonides's ''
Guide for the Perplexed'' states that gentiles may receive prophecy, with at least one example derived directly from the Torah in the person of Bilaam. However,
Judaism generally does not accept that any of the specific people well known in other religions are genuine prophets. Jews have recognized specific gentile leader as a prophet, as most people who claim to be prophets in other religions have done so in such a way as to delegitimize or supersede Judaism itself. Judaism (based on
Deuteronomy Ch. 13 and 18:20) holds that no true prophet will create a new faith or religion as a successor to Judaism. Maimonide's work was thought upon by
Spinoza, in particular in his ''
Theologico-Political Treatise''.
The
Talmud states that minor forms of prophecy still occur. One example of this is the ''bat kol''. (e.g. Tosefta Sota 13:3, Yerushalmi Sota 24b, and Bavli Sota 48b). The Talmud states that each time a Jew studies the Torah or its rabbinic commentaries, God is revealed anew; there is still a link between the God and the Jewish people. Reference:
Abraham Joshua Heschel's ''Prophetic Inspiration After the Prophets: Maimonides and Others'' (Ktav)
Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote one of the 20th century's classic commentaries on the prophets, entitled "The Prophets".
;See also
★ ''
False Prophet'' for detailed definition of prophet and false prophet in Judaism.
★ ''
Shouters'', a type of Jewish Prophet
Tanakh (Hebrew Bible)
In
Hebrew, the word traditionally translated as ''prophet'' is נְבִיא (''navi''), which likely means "proclaimer". This forms the second of the three letters of TaNaKh, derived from Torah, Navim, Ketuvim. The meaning of ''navi'' is perhaps described in
Deuteronomy 18:18, where
God said, "I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them all that I command him." Thus, the ''navi'' was thought to be the "mouth" of God. The root nun-bet-alef ("navi") is based on the two-letter root nun-bet which denotes hollowness or openness; to receive transcendental wisdom, one must make oneself “open”. Cf.
Rashbam's comment to
Genesis 20:7.
Fully a third of the TaNaKh is devoted to books about prophetic experience including a separate book of ‘minor’ prophets known as The Twelve Prophets (Trei-Assar) .
According to I
Samuel 9:9, the old name for navi is ro'eh, ראה, which literally means "
Seer". That could document an ancient shift, from viewing prophets as seers for hire to viewing them as moral teachers. Allen (1971) comments that in the First Temple Era, there were essentially seer-priests, who formed a guild, divined, performed rituals and sacrifices, and were scribes, and then there were canonical prophets, who did none of these (and were against divination) and had instead a message to deliver. The seer-priests were usually attached to a local shrine or temple, such as Shiloh, and initiated others as priests in that priesthood: it was a mystical craft-guild with apprentices and recruitment. Canonical prophets were not organised this way. The similar term "ben-navi" ("son of the prophet") means "member of a seer-priest guild".
Some examples of prophets in the
Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) include
Abraham,
Sarah,
Isaiah,
Samuel,
Ezekiel,
Malachi, and
Job. In Jewish tradition,
Daniel is not counted in the list of prophets.
A Jewish tradition suggests that there were 600,000 male and 600,000 female prophets. Judaism recognizes the existence of 48 male prophets who bequeathed permanent messages to mankind.
[1] According to the
Talmud there were also seven women who are counted as prophets whose message bears relevance for all generations:
Sarah,
Miriam,
Devorah,
Hannah (mother of the ''prophet''
Samuel),
Abigail (a wife of
King David),
Huldah (from the time of
Jeremiah), and
Esther. There were, of course, other women who functioned as prophets, and the last prophet mentioned in the Bible,
Noahdiah (
Nehemiah 6:14) was a woman.
Malachi's full name was Ezra Ha'Sofer (the scribe), and he was the last prophet of Israel if one accepts the opinion that Nechemyah died in Babylon before 9th Tevet 3448 (313 BCE).
Divine Pathos
In his book ''The Prophets'',
Abraham Joshua Heschel describes the unique aspect of the Jewish prophets as compared to other similar figures. Whereas other nations have soothsayers and diviners who attempt to discover the will of their gods, according to Heschel the Hebrew prophets are characterized by their experience of what he calls theotropism — G-d turning towards humanity. Heschel argues for the view of Hebrew prophets as receivers of the "Divine
Pathos," of the wrath and sorrow of G-d over his nation that has forsaken him.
He writes:
Prophecy is the voice that G-d has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profane riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of G-d and man. G-d is raging in the prophet's words. (The Prophets Ch. 1)
Greek and Roman oracles
The role of spokesman for the gods is an archaic one in the Hellenic world. However, the word ''prophet'' itself derives from the Greeks, who used the word ''προφήτης'' to refer to an interpreter or spokesperson of a deity, who "utters forth." In
Greek pantheistic beliefs the interpreters of
Zeus,
Apollo, and other
gods were the
oracles, at numerous ancient sites, where the god or goddess spoke through women, sometimes identified as
sibyls and the utterances, in classical times, were interpreted by men. In various Greek legends, oracles (particularly Apollo's at
Delphi) spoke cryptically of the future, and their meaning was frequently misunderstood. In ''The Iliad'' the Trojan princess
Cassandra warns of upcoming events after being gifted premonition by Apollo, but a curse causes her premonition to be disbelieved.
Christianity
Christians shares the Jewish belief that a prophet is a person who speaks for God, in the name of God, and who carries God's message to others. Some Christian
denominations teach that a person who receives a personal message not intended for the body of believers (where such an event is credited at all) should not be termed a prophet. The reception of a message is termed
revelation; the delivery of the message is termed
prophecy. For Christians the authenticity of a prophet is judged by their fruits as Jesus said that one should judge a prophet by his fruits, (
Gospel of Matthew 7) and by checking whether his predictions come true.
Deuteronomy 18:21-22 contains several warnings about false prophets and is very specific about the test of whether a prophet is true or false. A false prophet is considered to be someone who is purposely trying to deceive, or is delusional, or is under the influence of Satan (for detail, see main article ''
False prophet'').
Christians recognize that anyone they consider prophetic is still human and fallible, and may make wrong decisions, have incorrect personal beliefs or opinions, and sin from time to time; the human characteristics of a prophet are ''independent'' of the message God has given him and do not negate the validity of his prophecies.
Nevertheless, some Christians believe the minimum requirements of a true prophet can be summarized as follows: (1) Clear (not vague) prophecies (2) 100% accuracy in prophesying (i.e. one false prophecy is all it takes to disqualify them as a prophet), and (3) Must not contradict the Bible.
Many Christians believe these standards create a conundrum for other Christians who actively support high profile ministers who have large followings who claim to have received prophecies that have later turned out to be mistaken (see
Unfulfilled historical predictions by Christians). Some sects of Christianity would also use these guidelines to disqualify other sects as prophets of God.
Some Christians, including many who believe in
dispensationalism, believe prophecy ended with the coming of
Jesus, who delivered the "fullness of the law." Within this group, many Protestants believe that prophecy ended with the last of the Hebrew prophets of the
Torah of the Hebrew Bible, leaving a gap of about 400 years between then and the life of Jesus. The majority, including the
Eastern Orthodox, allow an exception for
John the Baptist as a prophet contemporary with Jesus.
New Testament passages that explicitly discuss prophets existing after the death and resurrection of Christ include Revelation 11:10, & 23:34, John 13:20 & 15:20, and Acts 11:25-30, 13:1 & 15:32. Christians believe that the Holy Spirit leads people to faith in Jesus and gives them the ability to lead a
Christian life and to give gifts (i.e. abilities) to Christians. These may include the
charismatic gifts such as
prophecy,
tongues, healing, and knowledge. Christians holding a view known as
cessationism believe these gifts were given only in New Testament times and ceased after the last apostle died. Historical records, however, contradict this theory. Christians almost universally agree that certain more mundane "
spiritual gifts" are still in effect today, including the gifts of ministry, teaching, giving, leadership, and mercy (see, e.g. ).
Islam
Main articles: Prophet of Islam
The
Qur'an identifies a number of men as ''Prophets of Islam'' (Arabic: nabee نبي ; pl. anbiyaa ''أنبياء'' ).
Muslims believe such individuals were assigned a special mission by God (
Arabic: ''
Allah'') to guide humanity. Besides
Muhammad, this includes
Abrahamic prophets such as
Moses and
David, and
Jesus from Christian religion.
According to the
Islamic creed, the essence of all the prophets’ messages is what Islam calls for: worshipping God alone and rejecting false deities. Islam is the religion of all prophets in human history; all of them called for beliefs which Islam calls for, and so they declared belief in Islam. The message of Islam resembles the messages of all previous prophets of God. The Qur'an states: "Abraham was not a Jew nor a Christian, but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim (submission to God's will), and he was not one of the polytheists" (). There were at least 4 Sharia which were revealed to
Noah,
Abraham,
Moses and
Jesus. Each of the prophets is believed to have been assigned a special mission by God (
Arabic: ''
Allah'') to guide the whole or a group of the mankind, depending on the mission assigned to each.
God is believed to have instructed each of these prophets to warn his community against evil and urge his people to obey God. Although only 25 prophets are mentioned by name in the Qur'an, a
Hadith (no. 21257 in ''Musnad
Ibn Hanbal'') mentions that there were
124,000 of them in total throughout history, and the
Qur'an says that God has sent a prophet to every group of people throughout time, and that Muhammad is the last of the Prophets.() In general, Muslims regard the stories of the Qur'an as
historical. The message of all the prophets is believed to be the same. Many of these prophets are also found in the texts of
Judaism (The Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings; collectively known as the Old Testament to Christians) and
Christianity.
[1]
While Islam shares the Jewish tradition that the first prophet is
Adam, it differs in that the last prophet is
Muhammad, who in Islam is called ''
Seal of the Prophets.''
Jesus is the result of a
virgin birth in Islam as in Christianity, and is regarded as a prophet like the others.
[2] Traditionally, five prophets are regarded as especially important in Islam with distinctive title were given to each of them for example:
Noah,
Abraham,
Moses,
Jesus, and
Muhammad. Also, only a tiny minority of prophets are believed to have been sent
holy books (such as the
Tawrat,
Zabur,
Injil and the
Qur'an), and those prophets are considered ''"messengers"'' or ''
rasul''.
Muhammad is regarded in
Islamic belief as having undertaken a prophetic mission addressed to all of humanity rather than a specific populace.
Although it offers many incidents from the lives of many prophets, the Qur'an focuses with special narrative and rhetorical emphasis on the careers of the first four of these five major prophets. Of all the figures before Muhammad, Moses is referred to most frequently in the
Qur'an. As for the fifth, the Qur'an is frequently addressed directly to Muhammad, and it often discusses situations encountered by him. Direct use of his name in the text, however, is rare. Rarer still is the mention of Muhammad's contemporaries. Besides the four Holy Books sent by God to the four messengers, Muslims believe that God also had granted Scrolls
Suhuf (contains basic Divine Laws to guide the people) to
Abraham and
Moses.
Muslims believe that evidence for the prophethood of Muhammad is as good as, if not stronger than, the evidence for previous prophets. A common argument is to ask why the Jew or Christian believe in Moses or Jesus, and to use the same answer to prove Muhammad's prophethood. They also maintain that all accusations levied on their prophet can be used against persons such as Abraham, Israel, Moses and Jesus. Thus they hold that the Jews or Christians are not consistent. If they believe in Moses or Jesus for their miracles, the same should apply to Muhammad. If Muhammad is accused of fighting, is not the same said about Abraham, Moses and David? They also argue that
prophecies about Muhammad are still in the Old and New Testaments.
Other prophets
Claims of prophecy continued through history and have occurred in many regions around the World. One of greater note is that of
Nostradamus who lived in France at the turn of the 16th century.
Bahá'í
Main articles: Manifestation of God
The
Bahá'í Faith refers to what are commonly called prophets as ''Manifestations of God'', or simply ''Manifestations'' (''mazhar'') who are directly linked with the concept of
Progressive revelation. Bahá'ís believe that God expresses this will at all times and in many ways, including through a series of divine messengers referred to as ''Manifestations of God'' or sometimes ''divine educators''.
[3] In expressing God's intent, these Manifestations are seen to establish religion in the world. Thus they are seen as an intermediary between God and humanity.
[4]
The Manifestations of God are not seen as an incarnation of God, but they are also not seen as an ordinary mortals. Instead, the Bahá'í concept of the Manifestation of God emphasizes simultaneously the humanity of that intermediary and the divinity in the way they show forth the will, knowledge and attributes of God; thus they have both human and divine stations.
4 This view resembles the
Christian view of
Christ, as well as the
Shi'a understanding of the prophets and
Imams.
Bahá'u'lláh referred to several historical figures as Manifestations. They include the figures in the Abrahamic Faiths such as
Noah,
Abraham,
Moses,
Jesus, and
Muhammad, but also include the founders of great non-Western religions such as
Zoroaster,
Krishna, and
Buddha. The
Báb, as well as himself, were included in this definition, and Bahá'u'lláh wrote that God will send more Manifestations in the future, when necessary. Thus religious history is interpreted as a series of
dispensations, where each ''Manifestation'' brings a somewhat broader and more advanced
revelation, suited for the time and place in which it was expressed.
These Manifestations are taught to be "one and the same", and in their relationship to one another have both the station of unity and the station of distinction.
4 Bahá'u'lláh wrote in the ''
Kitáb-i-Íqán'' that in respect to their station of unity "if thou callest them all by one name. and dost ascribe to them the same attribute, thou hast not erred from the truth."
[5] In this sense, the Manifestations of God all fulfill the same purpose and perform the same function by mediating between God and creation. In this way each Manifestation of God manifested the Word of God and taught the same religion, with modifications for the particular audience's needs and culture. Bahá'u'lláh wrote that since each Manifestation of God has the same divine attributes they can be seen as the spiritual "return" of all the previous Manifestations of God. Bahá'u'lláh then states the diversity of the teachings of the Manifestations of God does not come about because of their differences, since they are one and the same, but because they each have a different mission.
45
In addition to the Manifestations of God, in the Bahá'í view, there are also minor prophets. While the Manifestations of Gods, or major Prophets, are compared to the sun, which produces its own heat and light. The minor prophets, on the other hand, are likened to the moon, which receive their light from the sun.
Moses, for example, is taught as having been a Manifestation of God and his brother
Aaron a minor prophet. Moses spoke on behalf of God, and Aaron spoke on behalf of Moses (
Exodus 4:14-17). Other Jewish prophets are considered minor prophets, in the Bahá'í view, as they are considered to have come in the shadow of the dispensation of Moses to develop and consolidate the process he set in motion.
Modern prophetic claims
In modern times the term "prophet" is always controversial. For instance,
Joseph Smith, Jr. and
Ellen G. White, the respective founders of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the
Seventh-day Adventist Church, are considered prophets by members of those churches, but are vilified in some other branches of
Christianity.
Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("LDS Church", see also
Mormons) and other churches from the
Latter Day Saint movement believes that God continues to communicate with his children. While anyone may receive
revelation for themselves or their own families, Mormons believe certain individuals have been called as prophets throughout history to proclaim God's message to the church and to the world. These prophets (including LDS
Apostles) are regarded as "special witnesses" of Jesus Christ, and are believed to have been foreordained as such as a part of God's
Plan of salvation --to lead and guide His children on earth. The message of the gospel of Christ, since the time of
Adam and Eve, has consistently been a call for people to repent and exercise faith in God and in Jesus'
Atonement. A form of
Dispensationalism exists where periods of time are introduced by a ''major prophet''. The
Book of Mormon describes the ministries of many of these prophets among the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, and alludes to other prophets who would be chosen in nations other than in the Americas and
Bible lands.
Latter-day Saints believe that God calls a prophet to lead the Lord's church any time it has been organized on the earth, beginning with Adam, and continuing on with others recorded in the Old Testament such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Isaiah, and Malachi.
Jesus did this during his mortal ministry, and
Peter acted in Christ's place after His ascension, but because of persecution the church eventually fell into
apostasy. With the
Restoration of the
Gospel in
1830 through
Joseph Smith, Jr., Latter-day Saints claim the true Christian church was, again, organized and established upon the earth. God is believed to direct affairs of the church through the leadership of the church, especially the
President of the Church. He is believed to be authorized to receive revelation for the whole world and is often referred to simply as "the Prophet." He speaks bi-annually at the LDS Church's
general conference, which is broadcast in many areas in addition to being printed and published.
Joseph Smith (1805–1844) is called the "Prophet of the Restoration" and was the first in the latter-days and is considered the prophet of the
dispensation of the fulness of times. The current leader of the church is
Gordon B. Hinckley (b.
1910). In chronological order, past Presidents of the LDS Church were
Brigham Young,
John Taylor,
Wilford Woodruff,
Lorenzo Snow,
Joseph F. Smith,
Heber J. Grant,
George Albert Smith,
David O. McKay,
Joseph Fielding Smith,
Harold B. Lee,
Spencer W. Kimball,
Ezra Taft Benson and
Howard W. Hunter.
Hugh B. Brown, a former member of the
First Presidency, presented an explanatory dialogue entitled Profile of a Prophet
[2].
Latter-day Saints also believe other good men and women have had important roles among mankind and have been born on earth at particular times based on God's foreknowledge in all things, to guide their societies in true principles based on the light and knowledge they specifically sought after. For example,
Mohammed,
Confucius,
John Wycliffe,
William Tyndale, the
United States founding fathers, and
Gandhi were inspired by the
light of Christ in bringing much goodness and truth to their societies, though theirs was not a revelatory calling through priesthood authority and direct revelation, thus differing from the calling of a prophet.
[6]
Community of Christ
Members of
Community of Christ, like the Mormons and other adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement believe that God continues to communicate with his children. While anyone may receive guidance from the Lord for themselves, only those called by God to be the prophet of the Church are able to present revelations that are intended to be presented to the Church as a whole, or to the world.
Following the death of Joseph Smith II, the church was loosely re-organized by those whom the modern Church would view as having been faithful to the original teachings of Smith. When his son Joseph Smith III was old enough to take over, they petitioned him to do so, and in time he was sustained as the second prophet of the Church. Joseph Smith III served in that capacity for 54 years. He was succeeded as prophet by Frederick M. Smith, Israel A. Smith, W. Wallace Smith, Wallace B. Smith, W. Grant McMurray and most recently Stephen M. Veazey.
Community of Christ (as well as most Latter Day Saint denominations) considers the Book of Mormon to be scripture. This book, for the most part, deals with the history of a group of Israelites who immigrated to the Americas, circa 600 BC. Throughout the history of the resulting civilizations (the Nephites and Lamanites), and one previous society (the Jaredites) several prophets are called into God’s service. Among the more important ones are:
Abinadi, Alma the Younger, King Benjamin, Jacob, the Brother of Jared, Lehi, Mormon, Moroni, Nephi, & Samuel the Lamanite, who, like many other figures in the Book of Mormon account, "presented a revelation which was intended to be presented to the church as a whole" even though he was not "called by God to be the prophet of the Church."
[3]. In addition, four prophets of the Old World, not known to exist outside the Book of Mormon, are also mentioned (and occasionally quoted): Ezias, Neum, Zenock and Zenos (the latter was quoted at great length in reference to a prophesy concerning the final fate of the House of Israel).
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses do not consider any single person in their modern-day organization to be
a prophet. Their literature has referred to their organization collectively as God's "prophet" on earth; this is understood however in the sense of declaring their interpretation of God's judgments from the Bible along with God's guidance of His Holy Spirit. One issue of
The Watchtower their magazine, said: "Ever since 'The Watchtower' began to be published in July of 1879 it has looked ahead into the future... No, 'The Watchtower' is no inspired prophet, but it follows and explains a Book of prophecy the predictions in which have proved to be unerring and unfailing till now. 'The Watchtower' is therefore under safe guidance. It may be read with confidence, for its statements may be checked against that prophetic Book."
[7] They also claim that they are God's one and only true channel to mankind on earth, and used by God for this purpose. They have made
many eschatological predictions and as a result have acknowledged they "have made mistakes in their understanding of what would occur".
[8]
Seventh-day Adventist
Main articles: prophetic gift of Ellen White
The
Seventh-day Adventist Church believes
Ellen White, a cofounder of the church, possessed the gift of prophecy.
Tenrikyo
Tenrikyo's prophet,
Nakayama Miki or
Oyasama [4], is believed by Tenrikyoans to have been a kind of microphone of God, as God spoke through Oyasama, directly, to whomever was in the vicinity. She had three aspects: the Shrine of Tsukihi (the body of the woman was occupied by the mind of God), The Parent of the Divine Model (Oyasama taught the people by instructions and examples), and The Truth of the Everliving Oyasama (she continues to watch humanity develop, even after shedding her body).
Other religions
★
Lou de Palingboer,founder and figurehead of a new religious movement in the Netherlands.
★
David Koresh, leader of the
Branch Davidians religious sect
★
Rashad Khalifa, founded the religious group
United Submitters International (USI)
★
Bobby Henderson, founder and prophet of the
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Other individuals
Other people throughout history have been described as prophets in the sense of foretelling the future (as opposed to forthtelling the message of the Deity). Examples of such prophets include:
★
Sathya Sai Baba
★
Shirdi Sai Baba
★
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Madame Blavatsky)
★
Edgar Cayce
★
Elizabeth Clare Prophet
★
Deganawidah
★
Jeane Dixon
★
Dan Evehema,
Hopi Elder
★
Hal Lindsey
★
St Malachy - see
Prophecy of the Popes
★
Merlin the wizard
★
William Miller
★
Nathan of Gaza
★
Nostradamus
★
Derrick Pitts of Newark, NJ
★
Richard Rossi
★
Mother Shipton
★
Sollog
★
Mitar Tarabich
★
John Titor
★
Alex Madrid Ybarra Paducah, TX
Science-fiction and fantasy
★ The seers and
Druids of
Shannara
★ The "Veheer" in the
Watership Down canon, most notably Fiver and Hyzenthlay. Technically seers as they have visions rather that clear prophetic messages.
★ The Istari,
wizards of
Middle-earth
★ The prophets of
Kirthanin
★ The
Bajoran Prophets from ''
★ The Prophecies of the Dragon in
Robert Jordan's "
The Wheel of Time" book series
★
Paul Atreides (
Muad'Dib) of
Dune
★ Valentine Michael Smith of
Stranger in a Strange Land
★
Sybill Trelawney of
Harry Potter
★
Ichabod Greyface of the ''
Principia Discordia
★
High Prophets of
Halo
★
Prophets of the Dark Side from
Star Wars
★
Jay and Silent Bob from
Dogma
★ The Covenant Prophets from the
Halo universe
★
Laura Roslin of
Battlestar Galactica
★
Medivh from the
Warcraft Universe
See also
★
Elijah List
★
Seer
★
★
Rishi
★
★
Vates
★
Fortune teller
★ "
Les Nabis" (the "prophets") an avant-garde group of late 19th century French artists.
★
Portent
Notes
1. The Bible; containing both the Old and New Testaments (see Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an)
2. See the Qur'an
3. 'Bahā'īs', 'Encyclopedia of Religion' ISBN 0-02-865733-0
4. , , Juan, Cole, Bahá'í Studies, 1982
5. Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude, Bahá'u'lláh, , , Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 2003, ISBN 1-931847-08-8
6. Smith, Joseph F., Gospel Doctrine, 1919, Chapter 22.;Top, Brent L., Life Before, 1988, Chapter 7
7. ''The Watchtower 1 Jan 1969''
8. ''Reasoning From the Scriptures'' p.136
References
★
Etymology of the English word "prophet"
★
Prophetic Midrash: Stories of Biblical Prophets and Prophetesses
★
Entry for prophecy, prophet, and prophetess at the Catholic Encyclopedia on-line edition
★
Entry for prophecy and prophets at the Jewish Encyclopedia
★
The Family
★
Prophets, a Mormon Perspective
Further reading
★
Elst, Koenraad: ''Psychology of Prophetism - A Secular Look at the Bible'' (1993)
ISBN 81-85990-00-X
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